One Chance
by GiveAHoot
Summary: Tris and Four meet at school while serving detention for their teacher Tori. After talking for a while, Tris realizes that Four isn't really as bad as she always thought he was. *One-shot* Please read.


**Hey everyone! I'm back again! Thank you so much for your support on my other one-shots! I'm really sorry, but I've been so busy with family and college problems, that I haven't had much time to write. But now I'm ready to write for you guys again! Here's another OS in Tris's POV.**

"Excuse me?" My english teacher asks. She is, by far, my favorite teacher, but if it's anything she can't stand, it's homework excuses.

"I'm serious, Tori," I say earnestly. "My dog really _did_ eat my homework." A short wave of laughter flows through the classroom. Uriah snorts. A smile plays on Tori's lips, but she doesn't drop the stern teacher look. I sigh. She raises her eyebrows. Everyone calls her Tori, because she complains that being called Ms. Wu makes her feel old. It's kind of funny really, seeing as she is kinda old, but oh well. Whatever flips her pancakes.

"Yeah, right, Tris." She says, giving me a look. I've never been the best student, even though I try really hard. My brother, on the other hand… he's a different story altogether. But Tori recognizes my effort, and that's why I like her so much more than my other teachers, especially my worst nightmare- Jeanine Matthews, or Ms. Matthews, as she prefers it- my chemistry teacher. "You can do better than that, come on. You can't honestly expect me to believe that your dog ate your homework."

I give her a pleading look. My grades are dropping, and she knows it. Ever since my parents got divorced, things have been really hard for both me and Caleb- although, he's still been keeping with his straight A's. My mother's been having an especially rough time working her three jobs, since my father refuses to pay the legal bills for us. I got a job at the local coffee shop, but I know that what she really wants me to pay her back by, is getting into a top university. Tori runs a hand over her face tiredly, and tells the class to start on the assignment she wrote on the board. Then she turns back to me.

"Tris, I hate that you're putting me in this position. I want to help you, I really do, but I can't when you're not even keeping up with something as simple as homework. You're really smart, Tris, I see that. But you can show that intelligence by just listening to what I tell you to do, and doing it right. You have a C right now in my class. That's barely a passing grade. If you just did your homework every day, like the rest of the class, that C could turn into a B just like that." She snaps to emphasize her point.

"Please, Tori." I say. "I needed help on the assignment, and nobody was home, as usual, so I started on it, but I got so frustrated that I ripped what little progress I had made, and threw it on the floor. And then, a while later, after taking a few minutes to calm down, I went back to tape it back together so I could turn something in, at least, but my dog was chewing on it."

She presses her lips together into a thin line. "Fine." She says, and I brighten up. "But…" she continues, "Only on one condition." I nod my head, ready to do anything short of jumping off a bridge for her at this point. "You write me a short, fictional, essay on how you lost your homework. So get on it, get creative. I want this done today. At school. I don't care if this keeps you after class. I've got all day to be at school today. If you can do it, which I know you can, I'll excuse you from today's class assignments, and pretend I never heard you tell me that your dog ate your homework. If not, then you'll have to make up everything you did in class today, and I'm afraid, I won't be able to give you any credit for the homework your dog supposedly ate. Go out in the hall, and write now. I don't want you to have any distractions." I nod, and grab a fresh sheet of loose-leaf paper and a sharpened pencil, and go out into the hallway. I sit there and think for a while, before picking up my pencil, and beginning a completely crazy, unrealistic story about how I really did do my homework, but then there was some kind of stupid alien invasion, and they sucked all the ink off the paper.

I continue writing for over an hour, past the bell, and even keep going after the announcement that the buses are leaving. I'm on my last page, when I get the itching feeling that someone's behind me. Very close behind me, actually. I turn around, and there stands the last person I was expecting. The school's playboy, Four Eaton. I've always hated him. He's a top-notch troublemaker, speaking of which, I shouldn't be surprised he stayed after school for detention. He has a reputation of a complete player. Rumor has it that he goes partying every night with his best friend Zeke, and sleeps with a different girl every time, then when she tries to make a move on him, he dumps her.

I don't know how much truth there is to these rumors. I mean, I know Zeke's little brother Uriah, and he's a nice guy, and in a serious relationship with a girl named Marlene. And my best friend, Christina, says that Zeke's had a crush on her friend, Shauna for the longest time. So I'm not really sure what to make of what people say. But when we were younger, he used to pick on almost everyone he considered lesser than him. Four. His heart is probably smaller than his name. But as we got older, he became quieter. He still was his snarky self in class, talking shit to and about teachers, but outside of class, he stopped the bullying, and rarely spoke to anyone other than Zeke, and occasionally Uriah.

I've never really talked to him, except this one time. Our parents were friends, so when his mother died when he was nine, almost seven years ago, I just squeezed his hand quickly, and said "I'm so sorry." I was only seven at the time. He usually left me alone at school, which surprised me, considering how small I was. Maybe because my brother was always by my side. Not that Caleb would have done much if Four did try to hurt me. Caleb's all bark and no bite, very unlike Four. I used to know his real name, but everyone's been calling him Four for so long that I forgot what it was. I think it started with a T.

Eventually, I realize that I've been staring into his eyes, for at least a solid five minutes, thinking all of this about him, and he's been staring back. Finally, he clears his throat.

"Ummm… Tori asked you to ask me, I mean you to ask her.." The tips of his ears, and the back of his neck turn red. I can't help but smile. Hmmmm. This doesn't sound like the Four I've heard so much about. He clamps his mouth shut for a moment, like he's rethinking what he was about to say, and then opens it again. "Tori asked me to ask you if you're done with the essay or whatever you're doing." He looks at me expectantly.

"How long have you been standing out here?" I ask him, trying to look intimidating, when I'm really just very curious. I'm not sure if it works, but he answers, squirming and looking rather embarrassed. It makes me smirk a little, which is very unlike me. Chris would be proud.

"Well… I came out here, like ten minutes ago, and I was gonna tell you, I swear, I was," he says, putting his hands up in defense. I believe him. Maybe he's not as bad as everyone makes him out to be. He continues then. "But I saw you writing, and I got so wrapped up in your essay, that I couldn't stop reading. And then you turned around, and I got all wrapped up again, and then…" He trails off, and now his entire face is really red. He scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. My smirk widens.

"Wrapped up _again_? With what?" I ask him, jokingly. His eyes widen a little, and now I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to tell him apart from a tomato.

I laugh. "I'm just messing with you." I tell him, not wanting to hate me more than he probably already does. But he did get wrapped up thinking about me…

He smiles a little, still red-faced, and shakes his head. "But I'm not," he says. I must look as confused as I am, because he explains what he meant. "I mean, I really did get wrapped up looking at you, and that's because you're beautiful." My jaw drops. **(If you're less than 13, I would stop reading right here, and until I give you the OK. I promise you won't miss anything important. I know I said this was K+, but this is the one part that isn't really suitable for anyone under 13)** I can't believe he had the guts to say all that to me. I was _not_ going to be his next one-night stand. I wasn't going to let him be my first. He would forget about me the next day, but me? I was never going to forget him. You don't just forget your first. You don't forget the person you lost your virginity to. **(Okay, all you 9-12 year olds, continue reading if you listened to me. If you didn't, and kept reading, even though I cautioned you not to, please don't search up stuff you didn't understand)**

He hastily defends himself when he sees my eyebrows reach my hairline, and my jaw reach the ground. "I know, what they say about me, but it isn't true. None of it is true. I mean, yes, I get in trouble in school a lot, in fact, I'm serving detention for Tori right now, but that's just to piss my dad off." His deep blue eyes plead with me. "Just give me one chance to prove that to you. Please, Tris." I think about what he said, and am surprised at how sincere he sounded. What do I have to lose?

"Why do you want to piss your father off?" I ask suspiciously. He hesitates, looking uncomfortable.

"After my mother died, he started to hit me," he says, his voice barely a whisper now. It's clear he doesn't want to talk about this. I suck in a breath. I always thought something was off with his father. His eyes are too cold, and his voice is too icy. He fakes politeness when talking to me, but through that facade, shines his real personality; emotionless and venomous. I had no idea that Four had been through so much.

"Oh, Four," I say quietly. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" I ask.

"Zeke knows," he responds. "And so does Amar, my P.E. coach, but I begged them not to tell anyone."

"Why?" I ask him, but it's pretty obvious. He's too scared. Anyone would be.

"Fear." He tells me quietly. "Isn't that the only reason we do- or in this case, don't do- anything? Marcus is a powerful man. Nobody who can do anything will believe me."

"That's not true." I tell him. "There's more to why we do and don't do things."

"Oh yeah?" He challenges.

"Sure." I tell him. "Love." He thinks about this for a moment, but I continue before he can speak. "Okay. One chance. How exactly do you want to prove what you said is true?"

"Tris. Will you be my date for the spring formal?" He asks. I give him a big smile, and nod yes. I'm about to say it, too, but then, the door opens.

"I wasn't aware it could take this long to ask a yes or no question, Four." Tori says.

 **I know I said I wouldn't post again if I didn't get enough reviews, but I promise, that's not why I didn't post until now! You guys left plenty of kind reviews that made me smile. So thank you for that! Please leave a review. Constructive criticism is accepted. Hate is not. Thanks! :)**

 **~Anna**


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